Banned for 30 years... bowling champion who slapped man in club ‘sexist’ row
The setting is invariably tranquil while the playing surface is nearly always immaculate.
Little wonder, then, why lawn bowls has always seemed to have a rather genteel sort of image.
But an incident in one of Scotland’s most renowned bowling clubs has shattered this friendly sporting face.
For a ladies bowling champion has been banned from Craigie Bowling Club in dundee after she admitted slapping a male player.
Kathleen Wright has been given a 30-year-ban and will not be allowed to attend the club until 2044 following a row over equality.
Ironically the 60-year-old grandmother – who has been campaigning for women to have the same rights as men – lost her temper after a clubroom row last month involving an unnamed 26-yearold man got out of hand.
Yesterday Mrs Wright, a club member for almost two decades, spoke out against her ban and accused the club, in the upmarket suburb of Broughty Ferry, of conducting a ‘witch-hunt’
‘He kept telling me to slap him harder’
against her. The current l adies’ champion, who has represented Craigie three times in the Scottish Bowls National final, said: ‘It all started very tongue in cheek.
‘We had all been in the same company so many times, but there was one thing that he kept saying that was sexist.
‘I asked him to please stop it, and then said I would slap him. So I slapped him, although I would describe it as more of the tip of his cheek.’
Mrs Wright – whose husband John, 56, has since resigned in protest – added: ‘ everyone was laughing and he kept telling me to slap him harder, which I did.
‘Then he said he would knock me to the floor and he walked out of the club.’
The bowling club, where annual memberships cost nearly £500, is due to celebrate its centenary year in 2017. at present it boasts 1 4 0 men and 2 4 women members.
however, Mrs Wright insists that after equality legislation was introduced in Scotland in 2010, the club failed to make legal changes to give i ts women members the same rights as their counterparts.
having just been informed of t he ban, t he grandmother admitted it did not come as a major surprise because of her equality stance.
She said: ‘In July I had been due to play in the ladies’ singles finals on the same day as the men, which had been allowed by management.
‘But the match secretary of the green committee overturned it because he complained and said it was a man’s night and women were not allowed.’
Mrs Wright admits she was wrong to lift her hand, adding: ‘I made a mistake, but I believe the club were just waiting for me to do something wrong to use it against me.’
The grandmother plans to lodge an official complaint with the governing body, Bowls Scotland, over her l engthy ban. her
‘Choose club or divorce’
husband maintains there is an underlying current of sexism at the club.
Mr Wright said: ‘ Kathleen is a very outspoken person and was fighting a lone crusade for women to be treated the exact same as male members.’
The retired civil servant and a club trustee added: ‘When Kathleen was handed the 30-year ban it was an unbelievable moment. One member said to Kathleen that they didn’t believe a word she said.
‘ One of the sexist trustees actually said to me, “Now John you must choose between the club or divorce”. It is a draconian, male-dominated club.’
‘during the past 30 years that I have been bowling I know of only two instances throughout all clubs where a lifetime ban has been given to members – and each time was serious cases of assault because of fighting.’
But Sidney Clark, a committee member at Craigie, yesterday described the allegations of sexism as ‘absolute c**p’.
he added: ‘We advised the victim to go to the police. That is all I’m going to say on the matter.’
a spokesman at Bowls Scotland said it actively encouraged all clubs to take a full and inclusive approach to the game.
The official admitted: ‘ Fortunately, the vast majority of our clubs do promote a fully inclusive approach to the game and to our knowledge any incidents involving sexism at bowling clubs are extremely rare.’